What comes to mind when you mention witches? Serials "Supernatural" and "Good witch"? Maybe movies "The Chronicles of Narnia», «Time for witches" or "Harry Potter"? Be that as it may, most people have the word “magic»Conjures up pictures from famous films or TV series, wonderful actors and impressive special effects.
However, for some people, a witch is just a fortune-teller, and magic is something like paganism of the modern world, which cannot harm anyone and has nothing to do with practical magic.
It's hard to believe, but in some countries, belief in witches and black magic still prevails over belief in law and medicine. Salem trials of witches, the Spanish inquisition - do you think the horrors of those dark days are in the past? You are mistaken, and in our time, the authorities of individual countries continue to believe in magic and often punish absolutely innocent people for this. Read on and be horrified! You might be interested in article 15 of the terrifying torture devices that are hard to believe exist.
1. Children are sorcerers, Congo
If a resident of Congo is tired of his own or adopted, who remained in the care of relatives who have left this world, a child, then there is a fairly simple way to get rid of him: to call him a sorcerer or a witch.
Some "loving parents"Noticing something amiss in the child, be it illness or unusual eye color, they begin to lead him to the exorcists, whose role is played by priests and Catholic priests. The measures taken to rid the child of the dark forces are cruel. Children are given liters of salt water to drink at a time, poked with fingers in the stomach, mouth and other parts of the body, and also pressed on the eyeballs.
Sounds like the plot of a second-rate horror movie, right? However, for most of the Congolese children, this is a real, brutal reality. About 50,000 children have been kicked out of their families on the streets just because they are suspected of witchcraft. Many of these children are beaten, raped, and some are simply killed.
2. Fight against the Islamist organization "Boko Haram", Cameroon
In 2016, the President of Cameroon, Paul Biya called on all residents of Cameroon to fight the organization “Boko Haram", For the good of the state. Patriotic, isn't it? Yes, but a small detail, Biya urged to use against “Boko Haram"Very interesting"weapon"… Witchcraft!
Witchcraft is prohibited in Cameroon, and the state is fighting witchers, or as they are also called, marabuts, who pull money from local residents, and they blindly believe in their superpowers and turn to them, neglecting the help of doctors and government officials, for amulets, talismans and other bizarre things that supposedly should solve all the problems that have arisen.
3. Witch hunt, India
In the cities of India, witchcraft is skeptical, which cannot be said about the villages. The situation in the villages of India is developing according to a dire scenario. The witch is called "dayan", This name comes from the name of the Greek goddess of the hunt Diana. Terrible torture awaits a woman who was suspected of witchcraft: she is beaten, raped repeatedly, branded with a red-hot iron, asked to repent, and in the end she is killed. All this is done in order to expel the dark forces from the female soul.
But there are also sorcerers who are asked for help, their names are Tantrikas. The villagers ask the tantrikas to bless their children, cure diseases, or get rid of misfortunes, while they must pay for the services, otherwise the tantrik will curse and "client", And his entire family.
4. Law on the Use of Airspace, Swaziland
A witch living in Swaziland can use her broom to fly and perform witchcraft as she sees fit, however, the maximum allowable flight altitude is 150 m, for violating this rule, the witch will be arrested.
This flight altitude applies not only to witches and their vehicles, but also to kites, toy helicopters and airplanes, and drones. To date, several residents have already been arrested for the fact that their toys flew above the established limit, but so far not a single witch has violated the established height, which suggests that witches are very law-abiding. Joke!
5. Head off your shoulders! Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, the law is much stricter. The legal system of Saudi Arabia classifies witchcraft as a crime - if a person is recognized as a witch or witcher, then he can say goodbye to his head. There is even a special organization to catch witches.
In this country, obscenely expensive cars and insanely rich sheikhs can be publicly executed or flogged for drinking, homosexual inclinations, adultery, burglary, as well as murder and of course witchcraft.
6. The terrible fate of widows, Nepal
Any widowed woman in Nepal can easily be branded a witch, because the wife is to blame for the death of her husband. The poor widow is blamed for all the troubles that occur in the village, if someone's chicken has stopped rushing, and a cow has given birth to a dead calf, then the widow is to blame, if there is no rain for a long time, then again the widow is to blame.
As soon as the villagers called the woman a witch, luck, too, seems to leave her. The widowed woman is illiterate and cannot provide for herself, and since her husband is dead, there is no one to feed her.
Crowd attacks against women branded as witches often surface in the media and show the horrific details and brutal nature of the people. Women are burned various parts of their bodies with a red-hot iron, thrown with stones, whipped, slicing the flesh to the bone, cut off pieces of skin, and sometimes even burned alive, and these are just some of the ways to combat witchcraft.
7. Assassin sorcerers, Uganda
V "modern"Uganda sorcerers-healers are revered, afraid, but insulted behind the back. Rich people go to them to get the help they need to get all the blessings of life. These sorcerers kidnap children for sacrifices.
Sometimes the child is simply killed like a sacrificial lamb, but often the child's organs are used to make potions. About 10-20 children in Uganda are recorded as victims of witchcraft every year. There are chilling stories known when parents sold their own children and then drank a potion made from the organs of the unfortunate in order to improve the herd population or the economic opportunities of the family.
8. Witches and genies, Iran
In 2011, many close associates of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were accused of witchcraft and calling jinn. Just as Christians believe in angels, so Muslims believe in jinn. The Qur'an says that Allah created three types of beings - people from earth, angels from divine light and jinn from smokeless fire.
One of the accused claimed that President Ahmadinejad himself forced him to collect information about the jinn who work for intelligence in Israel and America. When the headlines were in full swing in the newspapers, the former clergyman argued that perhaps the president himself was also involved in the occult. All this was said and written with the utmost seriousness.
9. The Power of Persuasion, Papua New Guinea
Until 2013, killing a person accused of witchcraft was common, as it was seen as self-defense in Papua New Guinea. However, representatives of various agencies advocating for human rights and denying any violence forced the authorities of the country to change this law and today the punishment for witchcraft is a prison term. However, the government of Papua New Guinea is unable to change the mentality of the population, especially those living in the countryside.
Any death in Papua New Guinea, especially when it comes to a child, is seen as the result of black magic... Residents call a kind sorcerer who can figure out the black witches. And then the whole crowd starts up on this unfortunate man, most often women are recognized as witches. She is stripped, tied up, and tortured until she confesses, then she is simply burned along with the trash. Almost 90 out of 100 people in Papua New Guinea believe in witchcraft, according to polls conducted by various organizations.
10. Colombian witches, Colombia
We all know that turkey is a poultry very popular for family dinners on Catholic Christmas Eve. But Colombian turkeys, these are werewolf witches, sounds intimidating, doesn't it?
Almost all men in Colombia believe that most Colombian women are witches. There have been many reports in the media that many old women have been killed lately as they were suspected of being witches.
Start talking about witchcraft in Colombia and you will be faced with a lecture on how to protect yourself from black magic. The main rule: it is necessary to sleep in pajamas turned inside out, and then the devil will not disturb.
11. The Doctor Won't Help, Gambia
In this country, the president himself is the organizer of inhuman witch hunts and executions. It was reported that entire villages were taken to remote locations (the presidential farm) and people were given various drugs that made them intoxicated. Some even died after similar experiments.
From Papua New Guinea, which, as already mentioned, is replete with belief in black magic and witches, doctors are invited, and they try to heal the citizens of Gambia from the desire to conjure. In addition to using strange drugs, the most effective method is considered to be beating suspects to a pulp.
12. Europe in Africa, Kenya
Kenya is a relatively Europeanized country in Africa. She embarked on a modern, European path of development and witchcraft has long been recognized as illegal. However, turning to witches who can help in matters of love, money or health is not prohibited.
If you ask a Kenyan who to turn to in order to quickly get the blessings of life, he will first say that he does not believe in magic, but after a few minutes he will advise a witch or sorcerer whom he regularly visits and will tell in detail about the results of these visits.
13. Albinos don't belong here, Tanzania
Albino people in Tanzania have a very unfortunate fate, they are kidnapped, killed and dismembered. What for? Because albinos are very rare people, and a valuable ingredient for various Tanzanian witches' potions. And since Tanzania has never been a European colony, black magic flourishes here. Albino people are cursed by their families and kicked out of their homes.
People of all faiths in Tanzania turn to black magic when nothing else helps them. They believe that ancestor sacrifices bring good luck, and various polls show that over 60% of Tanzanians believe in magic.
14. President and Black Magic, Indonesia
Obviously, a country plagued by inflation, traffic problems, frequent natural disasters and terrorist attacks must find a more effective remedy than witchcraft. People in Indonesia selflessly believe in witchcraft, and there are dukuns - witchers who can take your failures for little money.
In the book of the ex-President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a terrible incident is mentioned about the clash of the president with black magic in his house. He wrote about a black cloud that tried to enter the room, hovering under the ceiling in the hallway. When he and his family began to pray to Allah, the cloud disappeared. The Indonesian government has repeatedly tried to ban black magic, but so far not a single bill has been drafted.
15. Tax on witchcraft, Romania
People who do not live in Romania believe that this country is teeming with witches, gypsies and the like. However, today there are overwhelming number of witches in Romania, and, frankly, even gypsies turn to witches to complain about their fate and find out the future. Therefore, some Romanian witches live in houses that a respectable American businessman could envy.
In 2011, the Romanian government expanded the tax code to include the professions “witch», «predictor", as well as "astrologer»To increase payments to the treasury, forcing them to pay 16% of their income. The witches promised to spoil the government and poison the Danube River with mandrake root for such a decision. However, until now, not a single member of the government has complained of feeling unwell. Apparently the power of the tax code has come to protect the government from the mandrake root.
We recommend watching:
One of the Russian TV channels "Dozhd" in its report told about the fate of the so-called witches from Ghana: local residents told what happens to women who were accused of witchcraft, as well as by what distinctive signs they can be recognized.
